Up and Coming - Events for the coming week

Just a few things to share for some music events on the square and thereabouts for the coming week. First, on New years eve.

It starts pretty early, with White Sparrow kicking things off at 2:45, followed by Dr. Marc Charisse, “the professor of Prestidigitation”, as it were.  He will be be on stage and then doing walk arounds on the square. If he’s that good, I assume he will be picking pockets as he walks around (I sure would be).

While you’re watching your valuables, you can catch Bear the Bell and then Cascade on the main stage, Followed by Metasped for their (as far as I know) only second public gig after they debuted by rocking Blaze for the Brave back in the fall. Come out for the music, which will be great and powerful. Ann Gallagher is fronting, Blake and Dean are the rhythm section (I mean, it’s a bass and its being played on the square…pretty good bet Deano is standing behind it), with Mike Stearns and Matt Morris. Mike is great no matter what guitar he’s playing, and Matt plays the hell out of a…well, kind of precious looking Les Paul. To each his own.

Finishing up the night and bringing us into 2026 will be Chuck Darwin and the Knuckledraggers. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few guests play along with them, and I know for sure they will rock the square just as hard as they did back in the summer when they closed the first night of Guernsey Beat Rocks.

There will be a historical musician, Ray Owen,  playing at 2 in front of the library , followed by Nich Mich at 530 at the library. Also lots of Food trucks (UNCLE MOE!) not to mention a bunch of cool stuff like caricature drawing, bounce house and pet costume contests. This is being brought to you – in part – by the local Masons, with a hands on from the inimitable Zipp, hiking up his kilt and putting all of this together. Buy him a beer when you see him. Nice of the Lodge to take time off from secretly controlling the world to get Dr Marc and Metesped up on stage for NYE in Gettysburg.

As always, though, it’s only cool if you show up!

Just as you recover from NYE and are coming to terms with the idea that you have to get back to work on Monday, you’ll find a two day music festival at Ploughmans on the weekend after New years day.  I want to talk about this because the line up is incredible, and it’s clear that Rob and Ben are not f***ing around for bringing talent in front of your eyes and ears in the new year.

Friday night kicks it off with the Clark Mclane Band. You may not have seem them in town, I know I’ve only seen them twice and both times were at Cidernalia… this is a band out of Philly with great songwriting, and a big guy with a butterscotch tele standing next to Clark and straight-up bringing it on every tune. A very solid, very pro band who knows how to play live and who you’ll be hoping shows up more often once you see them.

Saturday runs all day, from 2pm to 930, starting with Glass Grin, a band with a questionable name, but a killer line up, fronted by Evan Crider. Matt Morris is also a …um..grinner?  truth is, this weeked lineup has a lot of Morris and a lot of Cumberland Honey, without Cumberland Honey actually playing as a band.

After Glass Grin is Willeby Hayes, Dark River Darling (check out their newest release, out now. Rin is essentially the person who got me to start listening to banjo and liking it), then the Wild Hymns and the first Cumberland Honey member, the powerful and creative Llew Hank Ellen. They’re a tremendous harmonica player, and will sing your ass right through the back wall. Tony Scheaffer, the wonderful bassist and guitarist, then Patchwork Complaint Desk, and Peter Wile with his cool new logo, and finishing up with Gena Lanette, no doubt doing amazing shit with a telecaster and acting as the second Cumberland honey of the day.

It all starts up again on Sunday, With Mike Kell band (hopefully with Uncle Dirty on the harps) to kick it off good and hard, then Samuel D Lo, and Grace Mahar (Cumberland Honey Tres on the weekend). This is followed by Bad Naked, the return of Morris with his fancy boy guitar. This is another of Matt’s bands, with Blake on drums and the righteous warrior of single coils, Mike Stearns. They play incredibly well together in Metasped and this band as well. After naked is Bobcat, who I’ve been lucky enough to meet and see play a few times at ploughmans and I’m looking forward to that set…and finishing it all up with Chuck D and the Knuckledraggers. So it’s a fair amount of Cumberland honey representation (and that’s another band I hope we can get into town a lot more often in the new year), Morris popping up both days, and I’d be willing to bet the over/under on Deano sightings among these groups is at least 3.

It's a great line up and makes me look forward to who we will see playing in town in 2026. It certainly looks like Ploughmans and the guernsey beat maestros are cranking things up. Personally, and this is very much just a partial list - I’m hoping for more Nate Myers and the Aces, Cumberland Honey, Shine Delphi, and – always – More Mitch Morrell! Let me know who you have on your wish lists. I have 0 juice with any of the powers that be, but I’m happy to pass them along!